Youth in Action: Connecting Activism Across Regions and Movements
Youth in Action: Connecting Activism and Movements will bring together 30 young people to expand their tactical knowledge and strengthen skills through peer-led workshops.
The event will be held virtually between November 15 and 19, 2022.
About the Event
Each year, the Rights from the Start Forum bring together advocates in Abya Yala, the region known as the Americas, including Turtle Island, to share knowledge and address critical issues in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
This year's Forum responds to calls for more meaningful youth engagement and seeks to strengthen connections between advocacy for sexual and reproductive health and rights and other movements.
Objectives
The space aims to cultivate and enrich the discourse on SRHR and mobilize participants, who will share learnings with their networks. It seeks to:
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Deepen connections between movements and regions
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Establish SRHR as central to other rights issues and to the lives or everyone, everywhere
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Broaden participant knowledge of feminist strategies for defending and advancing rights
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Leverage forum learnings to facilitate further civil society, government, and public engagement and responsiveness
Content
For the third iteration of Youth in Action, three issue areas have been chosen for more in-depth exploration by speakers and participants:
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Climate justice and sexual and reproductive health and rights
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Drug policy and sexual and reproductive health and rights
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Migrant justice and sexual and reproductive health and rights
Why Youth-focused and Youth-led?
Youth are leaders in SRHR activism and advocacy.
Youth engagement provides opportunities to recognize and resource the work that youth are already doing. It centres (and values) young people's knowledge, skills, and lived experiences.
This year's event addresses the findings from the first and second Forums, where participants highlighted the need for solidarity networks to strengthen youth movements, the provision of tools and allocation of resources to youth, and support for peer-driven knowledge exchange.
Towards Meaningful Youth Engagement
This year’s Forum aims to devote resources to set up a facilitated, self-directed space where youth will lead the conversation, centering their perspectives from start to finish.
Young people are driving the planning process through focus groups, surveys, and feedback on the experiences of last year’s forum. They are providing leadership on priority thematic areas, the programme and participants, and best practices in creating youth-friendly spaces.
This year’s forum has been planned in partnership with the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights.
Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
A progressive, pro-choice charitable organization committed to advancing and upholding sexual and reproductive health and rights in Canada and globally. We provide direct support and information, partner with groups and organizations on a range of campaigns using a collaborative, movement-building approach. We work with decision-makers to advance progressive policies on access to abortion, stigma-free healthcare, gender equality, LGBTQ rights, and inclusive sex-ed. Learn more >>
The Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights
An international organization of young people (ages 18-29 years) committed to promoting adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health and rights at the national, regional and international levels. We are students, researchers, lawyers, health care professionals, educators, development workers, and most importantly, we are all dedicated activists. Learn more >>
The Rights from the Start project, including "Youth in Action: Connecting Activism Across Regions and Movements," is funded with the generous support of the Government of Canada.
